Feelin' Hot Hot Hot
by ShaViva
Summary: "Danger comes," the chorus of voices echoed in Sheppard's head, calling him back from the darkness. An incident at an Ancient outpost gives Shep the means to help the city when disaster threatens ... first in a series.
1. Let's take a minute before we leap in

**Feelin' Hot Hot Hot**

Author: ShaViva

Rating: K+

Content Warning: Minor character distress/illness

Season: Season 3, after 'McKay and Mrs Miller' and before 'The Return Part 1'

Summary: ""_Danger comes_," the chorus of voices echoed in Sheppard's head, calling him partially back from the darkness." An incident at an Ancient outpost gives Sheppard the means to save the city when disaster threatens. Sheplantis – big dose of Shep with some McKay friendship thrown in. Nothing to do with my Fortunate Journey Sabina series.

Classifications: Adventure, Drama, Team Friendship

Pairings: None

Spoilers for: Nothing really – very very minor references to The Brotherhood and Epiphany.

Disclaimer: The Stargate characters, storylines, etc aren't mine – I'm just playing with them for my own, and hopefully _your_ enjoyment. I am unfortunately not associated in any way with the creators, owners, or producers of Stargate or any of its media franchises. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, equipment, etc are the property of whoever owns them. Any original characters and plot and anything else I made up are the property of me, the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Copyright (c) 2008 ShaViva

**Chapter 1: Let's take a minute before we leap in**

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was having a good day. That in itself was cause for concern because Sheppard would be the first to admit that most of his off world missions had an element of ... bad day ... about them. Still, M4R-133 had so far failed to deliver on the bad and Sheppard had decided he might as well enjoy the good while it lasted. It was a nice sunny day, the trees they were walking through were at least as attractive as the thousands of others he'd seen on other similar worlds, and the walk had proved just strenuous enough to have him feeling nice and limber.

"McKay?" Sheppard glanced over his shoulder to Dr Rodney McKay who was stumbling along behind him, eyes more on his data pad than the ground in front of him. "How much further?"

The team had been trudging through the trees for almost an hour, following an elusive power signature Rodney had picked up moments after they'd gated in. The mission had been planned in advance based on intel from another planet that suggested a 'source of Ancient power'. Sheppard had tried to reign in Rodney's enthusiastic assumption that they were about to find a ZPM but Rodney wouldn't be swayed, his certainty powering him through the trees without the usual complaints about sun exposure, insects, or tasks beneath the genius of the great Rodney McKay.

"Another 5 kilometres," Rodney called out. "There's some kind of structure at the end of this path - the power signature's emanating from there."

"Ronon, Teyla, anything?" Sheppard checked in with the other members of his team who were bringing up the rear.

"There are still no signs of occupation," Teyla responded, her appearance calm and serene as she kept a watchful eye on their surroundings.

"No signs of _anything_," Ronon complained. These types of missions were not his favourites - he preferred the ones with a bit more ... action.

"Well, keep your eyes open," Sheppard ordered, resuming his role in the lead position.

They walked on for another twenty minutes in silence. Sheppard knew when they were getting close, even before Rodney told him. His skin began to tingle as though in contact with a small electric charge and he perceived a faint humming sound inside his head. It was something he'd become accustomed to after more than two years living in the Pegasus galaxy - how the Ancient technology called to the Ancient within him. That awareness didn't come with any cool powers or extra abilities, beyond his ability to control the Ancient technology, so he'd never mentioned it to any of his team, to anyone at all. He'd never heard anyone else with Ancient genes speak of any special awareness and Sheppard had decided very quickly after arriving in Atlantis that drawing attention to himself would not be a good idea. After doing the mercy kill with Colonel Sumner and having to take command of the military contingent it became even more important that he not give anyone reason to doubt him.

"Another one hundred metres that way," Rodney said, pointing in the direction Sheppard had instinctively turned. Rodney didn't notice, frowning at his screen as he tried to zero in on the power signature.

Minutes later they broke from the cover of trees into a small almost circular clearing. In the centre of the clearing was a rounded structure that looked like an upright storm cellar door. Whatever they'd found, clearly it was going to involve going underground.

"This is it," Rodney walked forward eagerly. "The power signature's coming from somewhere under us."

"Hold on McKay," Sheppard put a hand on Rodney's shoulder to halt his progress. "Let's take a minute before we leap in."

"There's nothing to indicate any kind of problem," Rodney argued impatiently. "It's a simple door leading underground."

"And the doorway to the Sanctuary was just a simple cloak," Sheppard replied, grimly reminding Rodney of the last time they'd blundered in without fully considering all the available information.

"Fine," Rodney muttered, moving away from the door to scan the surrounding structure. "I'm not picking up any evidence of power usage up here," he reported a few moments later.

"Okay," Sheppard agreed, having done his own walk around the structure and found nothing that seemed suspicious. He motioned for Ronon to take position on one side of the doorway, Teyla on the other, while he stood in front ready to open it. Rodney stood crowding behind him, impatient to see what was behind the door. "On my count," Sheppard said softly, "three ... two ... one." He swiped a hand over the door control, raising his P90 and shining the torch through the now open doorway. "Clear."

Ronon entered first, then Sheppard, Rodney and finally Teyla covering their backs. The path leading down put Sheppard in mind of a large well with a spiral staircase constructed against its walls. Ronon continued to shine his torch forewards as they made their way down slowly, their steps echoing back up the shaft.

"How deep are we going?" Sheppard's voice sounded loudly in the gloom.

"Ah ... 100 feet," Rodney said, his face illuminated by the screen of his data pad. His breath hissed in and out, reminding Sheppard that Rodney suffered from mild claustrophobia. Being down a darkened well would not sit well with him but it was amazing what Rodney would put up with in the name of science.

Ronon reached the bottom of the stairs, moving through to the large circular room that seemed to be the only destination. The others followed silently behind him until they all stood gathered just inside the door.

"What is this place?" Sheppard asked Rodney, trying to see more within the semi darkness.

"I don't know," Rodney admitted, holding up his data pad and moving it slowly in front of him.

"I guess we should take a closer look then," Sheppard strode forward confidently. As soon as he'd taken a few steps a faint hum sounded and the room was bathed in familiar blue white light.

"What did you do?" Rodney asked, quickly stepping around Sheppard and heading for the console that was now revealed on the other side of the room.

"Nothing," Sheppard said irritably. "This place must be like Atlantis ... automatic lights and power ups when it detects the presence of the Ancient gene."

"Colonel Sheppard,' Teyla spoke softly, drawing Sheppard's attention to where she was looking.

The walls of the chamber were carved with Ancient symbols. The floor had also been decorated ... the large ornate circle carved a couple of steps into the room must have been the cross over point for detection of the Ancient gene because Sheppard was pretty sure the lights hadn't come on until he'd been standing inside that circle. Another smaller circle, about the width of a man with arms fully outstretched, had been carved to enclose the centre of the room.

"McKay, scan the walls," Sheppard ordered. "We'll get someone to translate the text when we get back to Atlantis."

"Mmm," Rodney said distractedly, bent over the console with his laptop at the ready, about to plug into the console.

"Should you be doing that?" Ronon asked, walking over to stand next to Rodney.

"Why don't you worry about security and let me worry about the science," Rodney suggested sarcastically.

"McKay," Sheppard's voice held an unspoken warning.

"If we want to find out what this place does then I need to plug into the system," Rodney said impatiently, looking expectantly at the Colonel. When Sheppard gave a faint nod he turned back to the console and connected his laptop, tapping away at the keys and watching the readings that appeared. "This is interesting ..."

"What?" Sheppard demanded, walking over to where Rodney was standing. As soon as he passed into the centre circle everything changed.

Blue beams shot out from ceiling height, four of them, one for each occupant of the room. Sheppard tried to move but found that the beam was holding him immobile. The faint hum and tingle he'd pushed to the background grew stronger and stronger as the beam held him in place. Grimacing in pain Sheppard tried to check on his team mates - he couldn't shift his head enough to see Teyla or Ronon but Rodney was right in front of him.

Unlike John, Rodney seemed undisturbed by the beam, looking down at the console curiously as the light encased him. The faint hum had become a droning high pitched squeal that reverberated through Sheppard's head painfully. His skin crawled with an electric charge that felt like a million earwigs digging tiny pinchers into him.

And then it got worse - Sheppard groaned and struggled, desperately torn between wanting to tear at his skin and clutch at his head simultaneously. He couldn't curb the need to scream at the pain, hardly aware of his surroundings or the condition of his team. Before he lost consciousness Sheppard felt a shift, as though the reality he knew had been altered in some fundamental way.

"

"Oh what now?" Doctor Rodney McKay grumbled, stepping away from the console the moment the beam released him. "Sheppard?"

"The Colonel is still enclosed in the beam Doctor McKay," Teyla reported in concern.

"I can see that," Rodney said impatiently. Turning back to the console he frowned. "This makes no sense."

"Do something McKay," Ronon demanded, standing in front of Sheppard whose expression gave clear evidence that the beam was inflicting more than a little pain.

"I'm trying," Rodney complained, punching keys on his laptop looking for some kind of off command.

"Rodney," Teyla's urgent tone drew Rodney's attention back to Sheppard. The beam blocked out sound but it didn't take a genius to work out from sight alone that Sheppard was screaming in agony.

"Arg," Ronon growled, dancing away from the edge of the beam he'd just tried to punch through.

"That's not gonna work," Rodney said irritably. "Did either of you experience any pain, or notice anything that could tell us what that beam's trying to do?"

"I experienced a slight feeling of warmth travelling over me," Teyla said thoughtfully, "not unpleasant and certainly not painful."

"What she said," Ronon grumbled, still shaking his hand to get the feeling back as he paced back and forth in front of Sheppard.

"Mmm," Rodney thought quickly, moving to the console and kneeling down to open an access panel.

"We don't have time for you to work this out," Ronon said impatiently. "Shut it off!"

"That's what I'm doing," Rodney grumbled back. "I'm gonna pull one of the control crystals ...," Rodney added, reaching into the device.

With a clatter of limbs and equipment Sheppard crumbled to the ground, freed from the beams power.

"It worked," Teyla announced in relief, moving quickly to check Sheppard's condition. "He is unconscious but his pulse is strong."

"I didn't do anything," Rodney looked across at the others in confusion. "It must have finished whatever it was trying to do."

"We need to get Colonel Sheppard back to Atlantis," Teyla said urgently. "There is no telling what that machine may have done to him."

"You're right - you and Ronon start back now," Rodney ordered. "I'll finish scanning the walls here so we can work out what the hell just happened."

TBC

**Authors Note:**

This is my first attempt to write in a different style (i.e. third person instead of first person) so some feedback would be most appreciated.

For those of you who are interested, I'm still planning to start posting Fortunate Journey Season 3 in a few days ... just needed to take a break and clear my writers eyes so I can actually see the errors that will be right in front of my face the moment I post something!


	2. What was it trying to do?

**Chapter 2: What was it trying to do?**

"_Danger comes_," the chorus of voices echoed in Sheppard's head, calling him partially back from the darkness.

"Colonel?" Sheppard came to full awareness hearing a familiar voice.

"Doc?" he croaked, throat inexplicably dry.

"Aye lad," Dr Carson Beckett agreed, helping Sheppard sit up slightly so he could have some water.

"How long?" Sheppard asked, glancing curiously around the empty infirmary and registering that it was late evening.

"A day and a half," Carson admitted. "Rodney was here but I just sent him away to get some rest."

"What happened?" Sheppard did a quick visual and internal assessment, finding nothing to indicate why he'd even needed to be admitted into the infirmary, apart from the whole unconscious thing of course.

"Rodney said you were hit by some kind of energy beam," Dr Beckett offered. "He's analysing the data he got while you were under the beam but so far he can't give me any indication of what it might have been for."

"Is Rodney okay? And Teyla, Ronon?" Sheppard asked quickly, suddenly remembering that all of them had been hit by those beams.

"I examined them after Ronon carried you in here – they check out fine son," Dr Becket reassured him. "The beam seemed harmless ... to them. Rodney thinks it was the strength of your ATA genes that resulted in your experience being ... less pleasant than theirs. How are you feeling?" The stern look on Carson's face warned John not to try to down play his condition.

"I really do feel fine Carson," Sheppard replied. "I remember the beam hurt like a son of a bitch but now ... maybe just a slight headache?"

"That's good," Dr Beckett said in relief. "I'll still keep you here for the rest of the night for observation but you should be clear to return to duty in the morning."

"Thanks Doc," Sheppard leaned back gratefully, knowing it would be pointless to argue for an immediate release when he'd only woken up minutes before.

"I know you may not be tired but try to get some more rest," Dr Beckett advised, smiling quickly at Sheppard's mutinous expression before leaving him to it.

"Hey Doc?" John called him back as a thought occurred to him. "Did McKay find a ZPM?"

"Unfortunately not," Carson replied. "The outpost wasn't powered by one."

"Damn," Sheppard muttered, hopes dashed that at least they'd gotten something out of the whole thing.

He lay back, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. It was nothing obvious but somehow he felt things were different. Frowning in thought he tried to work out how ... after a few seconds it hit him. The hum and tingle of Atlantis calling to his Ancient genes had shifted ... the hum seemed fuller, more melodious, the tingle warmer and more pleasant. Feeling a slight sliver of warning inside that said that was not a good thing, Sheppard resolutely pushed the worries to the back of his mind to be considered later ... much later.

"

Sheppard was released from the infirmary the next morning as promised. The change in hum and tingle had grown as familiar as the old versions and he'd gone back to ignoring them much as before. His first stop was a trip down to Rodney's lab to see if he'd found out anything about that outpost.

"McKay," Sheppard walked casually into Rodney's lab, leaning a hip against his work table as he waited for some kind of acknowledgement.

"Carson let you out," Rodney said in surprise. "I was just coming down to see you."

"Sure," Sheppard smiled to take the sting out of that, imagining Rodney with the best of intentions getting distracted by some scientific curiosity on his way to the infirmary.

"I _was_," Rodney insisted. "Did Carson say anything about the beam?"

"Just that you were still analysing your data," Sheppard said lightly. "Have you got anything?"

"Not really," Rodney admitted. "I know that an element of the beams purpose was to detect the presence of Ancient genes. Teyla and Ronon said they felt nothing except a slight warmth - their scans only lasted a few seconds. Mine was a little longer - I felt some ... um ... tension I guess you could call it ... and then nothing. Minor reactions compared to you - Ronon even tried to break through the beam and got a nasty shock for his efforts. I can only conclude from all that that the beam detected not just the presence of the Ancient genes but the strength of them as well. You're the strongest gene carrier we have so the outpost concentrated all of its efforts on you."

"What was it trying to do?" Sheppard asked curiously.

"No idea," Rodney said freely. "Elizabeth's translating the text I scanned off the walls but she doesn't have anything useful yet. My readings suggest some of the beams power was absorbed by your body but I can't say why or what it was supposed to do. How did it feel to you? Do you feel any different now?"

"Painful," Sheppard admitted uneasily. "Felt like my skin was on fire and my head was about to explode. I'm fine now though - no lingering effects."

"Strange," Rodney turned back to his screens with a frown. "Why would the Ancients leave something like that on an unpopulated planet?"

"Your guess is as good as mine McKay," Sheppard said easily. "Unless you need me for something else I'm heading down to the commissary."

"I'll come with you," Rodney jumped up and followed Sheppard out the door.

A quick breakfast with Rodney turned into a team event when Teyla and Ronon turned up only minutes later.

"Sheppard," Ronon's greeting conveyed a number of messages - mainly that he was glad to see John up and about with no obvious ill effects; and that he was looking forward to getting back out in the field.

"Colonel Sheppard," Teyla smiled. "I am glad to see you are well."

"Good as new guys," Sheppard smiled at each of them. "Sorry I spaced out on you back there."

"You were not at fault," Teyla countered. "Doctor McKay was quite clear that the beam's effect on you was greater because you are strong with the Ancestor's genes."

"Yeah," Sheppard ran a hand uncomfortably over the back of his neck. "Not sure why exactly. Good news is that Doctor Beckett gave me a clean bill of health so we're good to go."

Talk turned to their next mission, this time a supplies/information gathering mission that was part of the running schedule of revisits to established allies. It was important for Atlantis to maintain it's links with the locals - finding out if there'd been any new Wraith activity or anything else of concern wouldn't hurt either.

"

Rodney continued to work through the data he'd collected from the outpost over the following week, incorporating the translations Elizabeth had done from what he'd scanned off the walls.

"I've gotten everything I'm gonna get," he admitted at a regular meeting with Elizabeth and team Sheppard. "The translation describes the outpost in the usual cryptic fashion - the Ancients left it there as a way to spread the 'power of the Ancients' but there's nothing to indicate what that was. I had hoped it would be a ZPM but the outpost is powered using the same type of system as the DHDs. The data I collected suggested the outpost was designed to look for Ancient genes of sufficient strength to pass this power on. Since it didn't appear to do anything I can only conclude it either didn't work or even Sheppard isn't sufficiently 'Ancient' enough to have qualified. Either way, without a successful subject I can't tell you what that power was supposed to be - only that it had nothing to do with a ZPM so we're no closer to solving _that_ problem than we were before we went to the outpost."

"Thank you Rodney," Elizabeth said simply. "Without anything else to go on we'll note M4R-133 down as a caution planet to avoid a similar occurrence and move on to our next ZPM lead."

"When we get one," Rodney complained, disheartened that once again another possible ZPM had turned into nothing.

"Yes Rodney," Elizabeth said patiently. "When we get one. In the mean time continue revisiting our allies and gathering any new intelligence on the Wraith."

"Okay," Sheppard agreed, standing up when Elizabeth did, signalling the end of the meeting.


	3. Sheppard – are you even listening!

**Chapter 3: Sheppard – are you even listening?!**

"Crap!" Sheppard muttered, wincing at the intense pressure behind his eyes. He'd woken up with a headache in the morning that had gradually ramped up during the day. Doing the usual 'grin and bear it' had worked fine while he'd been on duty and able to bury himself in the work. Now it was time to meet the rest of his team for dinner and Sheppard wasn't sure he'd be able to hide the fact that he had enough pain to register pretty high on the John Sheppard pain scale.

Lying there on his bed wasn't going to get it done so with a groan Sheppard rolled himself off the bed, landing in a kneeling position on the floor. Resting his head for a moment on the mattress he took a few deep breaths before pushing himself to his feet, staggering slightly and then steadying himself. Bathroom first – Sheppard threw handfuls of icy cold water on his face, running his hands through his already messy hair as he glanced at his own reflection.

"I look like shit," he thought, staring tiredly into his own bloodshot eyes hoping no one else would notice they were more green than brown – a sure sign he was in pain. Realising it wasn't going to get any better from there, Sheppard haphazardly rubbed a towel over his face and hair before deciding his appearance would have to be good enough.

"Sheppard," Ronon greeted Sheppard as he walked through the commissary to their usual table.

"Hey big guy," Sheppard said easily, throwing himself loosely into the seat across from Ronon. "Teyla and Rodney?"

"Teyla's in with Doctor Weir," Ronon offered, "something about a trip through the gate to trade for grain. She'll be here in a few minutes."

"And Rodney?" Sheppard glanced around the commissary idly, noting the positions of everyone in the room without realising he was even doing it.

"Late as usual," Ronon said simply.

"McKay," Sheppard taped his earpiece to give Rodney the hurry along. "Drop whatever Earth shattering breakthrough you're making right now and get your arse down here – Ronon's waiting and you know how he gets when you make him wait for dinner."

"Tell our resident Neanderthal to start pawing through his meal without me," Rodney said sarcastically. "Wouldn't want to starve his underdeveloped brain of some much needed fuel."

"I heard that McKay," Ronon growled, smiling wolfishly at Sheppard when Rodney squeaked audibly in terror.

"Just hurry it up Rodney," Sheppard ordered, closing off the channel before Rodney could put his foot any further in his mouth.

"Colonel Sheppard, Ronon," Teyla sat down gracefully next to Ronon, smiling a welcome.

"Hey Teyla," Sheppard nodded in greeting, trying not to wince when the movement caused his head to throb painfully. "Did you get sorted out with Elizabeth?"

"Doctor Weir has approved my travel to Dyns for tomorrow," Teyla replied. "My people will offer the usual trade of man power in exchange for crop seed for next season's harvest."

"Not more Tava beans I hope," Rodney arrived while Teyla was speaking, slumping down at the table next to Sheppard.

"Tava beans are a staple of the Athosian diet," Teyla didn't take offense to Rodney's implied insult. "Not to mention being part of many of the traditional dishes of my people."

"While I'm all in favour of tradition," Rodney complained, "did your people never hear of spices? My tastebuds are still cringing from the tava bean stew we had to live on before the SGC re-established contact."

"It requires a ... developed palette to truly appreciate Athosian cuisine," Teyla raised a haughty eyebrow at Rodney expectantly.

"Are you saying –," Rodney began, face already wearing that stubborn sarcastic expression he was so well known for.

"McKay!" Sheppard interrupted sharply. Rodney never knew when to quit – he'd keep the snipping match with Teyla going the whole night if Sheppard let him. Yelling had not been a good idea though – the sound of his own voice reverberated inside his skull, adding to the pounding he already had going on. Putting a hand to his forehead, Sheppard rubbed tiredly, trying to relieve the pressure.

"Are you unwell John?" Teyla looked at him in concern, always the first to notice when something was off with one of her teammates.

"Just a headache," Sheppard dismissed her concern with a casual wave of his hand. "Are we here to eat or to listen to Rodney complaining about Pegasus food groups?"

"Eat," Ronon stood, followed closely by Rodney and Teyla. Sheppard dragged himself up from the table reluctantly, almost hoping for some kind of emergency to call him away. When nothing presented itself Sheppard made his way over to the serving line, letting the servers put whatever they wanted on his tray. Didn't matter what it was since he had no intension of testing his stomach by actually eating any of it.

Conversation flowed between the teammates with the usual ease. Rodney complained about one of his unfortunate underlings who'd accidentally shut down the internal sensors and then couldn't get them back up, requiring Rodney himself to fix the problem. Teyla told them about recent improvements the Athosians had made to their irrigation and planting plans based on recommendations from the Atlantis horticulturalists.

Sheppard made the occasional acknowledgement as he pushed the food disinterestedly around on his plate. He didn't even realise he'd tranced out of the conversation completely until Rodney called him up on it.

"Sheppard – are you even listening?!" Rodney asked heatedly.

"Sorry Rodney," Sheppard replied, not making any excuses for his inattention.

"Are you okay?" Rodney looked at Sheppard closely for the first time since he'd sat down. "Because I gotta say you're not looking your best."

"Why Rodney, I didn't know you cared," Sheppard quipped, trying to deflect attention away from himself.

"John," Teyla's voice held the tone that usually made even him take notice.

"I said I was fine," Sheppard said firmly, holding himself stiff when the pain in his head ramped up a notch.

"You are not fine," Teyla disagreed, glancing wordlessly at Ronon. "You should go and see Doctor Beckett."

"Come on Sheppard," Ronon stood and pulled John to his feet beside him. "Either there's nothing wrong and you waste a few minutes in the infirmary or Beckett gives you something and you feel better."

Grumbling the whole way there about bossy team mates and a lack of respect for his authority Sheppard let himself be guided to the infirmary, escorted by the whole team.

"Colonel," Carson greeted him in surprise. Sheppard was usually the last person to turn up voluntarily ... or involuntarily for that matter ... in his infirmary.

"It's just a headache Doc," Sheppard almost growled. "I wouldn't have bothered you except these jokers wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Well sit up here lad and I'll take a look at you," Carson shared a conspiratorial look with Teyla, knowing full well that if she was concerned there was usually a good reason for it. Getting out his pen light he shone it into each of Sheppard's eyes in turn, flicking it back and forth to test for pupil dilation. Sheppard flinched away from the light, grinding his teeth to stop himself from making a sound in protest.

Frowning Doctor Beckett looked at John curiously. "How long have you had the headache son?"

"Since this morning," John admitted reluctantly. "I hardly noticed it though ... until Rodney made me yell at him."

"Sure," Rodney complained loudly, "blame me!" Rodney was capable of having conflicting emotions all at the same time though because he followed that up immediately with a concerned question. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine Rodney," Carson said easily. Going to the medicines cabinet he came back to Sheppard with a blister package. "Take these Colonel and then I want you straight into bed for a full nights sleep."

"Thanks Doc," Sheppard jumped off the bed, taking the pills and walking out the door, knowing Rodney and the others wouldn't be far behind.

"Come back and see me if the pain gets worse!" Doctor Beckett called out after him.

Sheppard walked down the corridor towards his quarters, bidding farewell to each of his teammates as they turned off towards their own rooms. Finally arriving in his own quarters Sheppard swallowed the pills dry, throwing himself face down on the bed.

"Argh," he growled, grimacing as the pain in his head radiated down his neck with the change in orientation. Closing his eyes tiredly he willed himself to relax and let the pills take effect.


	4. Bloody fool never takes his own advice

**Chapter 4: Bloody fool never takes his own advice**

Sheppard was on night three of what he was calling his 'little' headache problem and he was not happy. In fact he was pissed off, grumpy, and so tired he could feel the edge he needed to do his job blurring slightly. He'd been back to see Doctor Beckett once but refrained from repeating the useless exercise when Carson threatened him with tests and a protracted stay in the infirmary if the headache didn't clear up on its own. Since then he'd carefully avoided the infirmary, the Doc, and pretty much every public place he could get away with.

Luckily Teyla had taken Ronon with her to get the crop seed for the Athosians – they'd been gone for two days. Rodney had taken the opportunity to bury himself in his lab as he usually did when off world missions didn't drag him away. Sheppard concentrated on training his men, delegating anything his head couldn't handle to Major Lorne with the excuse that Evan needed to learn everything if he was going to be an effective second in command.

Nights were the worst – lying down was almost unbearable so he'd taken to slouching on his couch, sleeping upright for the few hours he managed to scrounge. Meals weren't much better – hard to have an appetite when your overwhelming urge was to puke your guts out. Sheppard was almost at the stage of giving in and letting Carson poke and prod at him ... if not for the fact that he knew Carson would remove him from duty too.

"Colonel Sheppard to the infirmary," Beckett's voice jerked him from his doze.

"On my way," Sheppard acknowledged, not bothering to find out what the specific problem was. He pulled on his boots and dashed down the corridor, bracing himself to give a good performance at hiding his own discomfort. Hopefully Carson would be sufficiently distracted by whatever he needed Sheppard for that he wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Doc?" Sheppard caught Carson's eye as soon as he arrived. "Problem?"

"Rodney's got himself ... attached to an Ancient device," Carson said irritably. "Bloody fool never takes his own advice about not touching anything."

"I heard that," Rodney's irritated voice issued from across the infirmary.

"What do you need me for?" Sheppard looked at Carson with a puzzled expression.

"Rodney thinks you'll be able to use your ATA gene to command the device to let go," Carson admitted.

"How come he can't turn it off himself?" Sheppard asked.

"Another mystery I'd be happy to solve _after_ you get this off me!" Rodney's irritable voice answering Sheppard's question broke in before Beckett could respond.

"I tried but the bloody thing wouldn't cooperate with me either," Carson said tersely, knowing Sheppard was well aware of his nervous regard for Ancient technology beyond what he used in the infirmary. "That leaves you."

"I'll give it a shot," John agreed with a shrug, following Carson across the room.

"McKay," Sheppard greeted the sight of Rodney with a strange box like object in place of his left hand with barely concealed amusement.

"Oh that's right," Rodney grumbled bitterly. "Laugh at the dying man."

"You're _not_ dying Rodney," Carson said in a tone that suggested he'd had to say the same thing more than once already.

"You don't know that Carson," Rodney disagreed vehemently. "You have no idea what this device is doing to me!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have stuck your hand in there Rodney," Sheppard pointed out reasonably.

"Yes hindsight is truly a remarkable thing!" Rodney waved his free hand dismissively. "Can we dispense with the chit chat and get this thing off me?"

"I'd ask you to give me a hand," Sheppard said with a smirk, "but since you've only got one spare I'll just ..."

"Oh very funny," Rodney didn't crack a smile. "Just do it would you."

Sheppard sat beside Rodney and put a hand hesitantly on the device. He could feel the hum of the machine immediately and hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could get the device to switch off even though he hadn't been the one to turn it on. Ancient technology was funny like that – for some things, like locked doors, it was very hard for someone else to override them once they'd been activated. Closing his eyes Sheppard thought 'off' as strongly as he could.

He heard Rodney's sigh of relief before he registered that he'd been successful. Taking his own hand off the device Sheppard was caught by surprise at the wave of dizziness and nausea that swept over him. He didn't think the pain in his head could get any worse ... until it did, lancing sharp needles behind his eyes. Groaning sickly Sheppard stood up to make a quick exit, swaying precariously before toppling over to the floor beside Rodney's bed.

"Colonel!" Doctor Beckett knelt down beside John, putting a hand to his neck to feel his pulse. Sheppard tried to protest the need for Carson's attention but couldn't manage it, turning away as he tried desperately to hang on to the meagre contents of his stomach. Rodney looked down from his position on the bed in horror.

"Is it the device?" Rodney asked Beckett worriedly, watching as Carson got out his penlight to check Sheppard's pupils. When John almost screamed at the agony of light stabbing into his eyes, Carson looked up at Rodney impatiently.

"No – it's that bloody headache," Carson said angrily. "Colonel Sheppard, your headache, has it gone away at all over the past three days?"

"Huh," Sheppard put a shaking hand to his forehead, content to lie curled up on the floor with his face pressed to the cool tiles.

"Colonel!" Carson snapped his fingers, drawing John's attention to him. "Has the headache been there the whole time?"

"Yeah," Sheppard admitted reluctantly, swallowing hard as the world shifted and ebbed around him.

"Okay, we need to get you up and into the scanner," Carson put a steadying hand under Sheppard's arm to pull him into a sitting position. John tried to cooperate but the pain stabbing him from inside had reached the top of the John Sheppard pain scale.

"Ah crap," he groaned out before the darkness overtook him.

"I _knew_ something was off!" Rodney said worriedly, jumping quickly off the bed to help Carson get Sheppard to the scanner. "He's been pale and ... and ... grumpy the past couple of days. I should have made him come down here."

"You know what the Colonel's like," Doctor Beckett excused. "Nothing short of a direct order from Elizabeth or some clever manipulation from Teyla would get him to report here voluntarily."

Once Sheppard was up on the examination table Carson did the usual checks – pulse strong, blood pressure a little high but acceptable, pupil dilation immediate and indicating a sensitivity to light. Activating the scanning device Carson stood in front of the display screen, waiting for the new images to appear.

"Is he ...?" Rodney hovered impatiently, craning his head over Carson's shoulder as though he'd understand the results of the brain scan if he could just see them properly.

"Rodney!" Carson turned to glare at him. "Colonel Sheppard is simply experiencing the effects of what looks like a very severe headache. There may be a cause but at this stage it's not jumping out at me. Now step back and let me do my job."

"I'll just sit over here and analyse that device," Rodney offered, trying to give himself a reason to hang around.

"Go back to your lab and take that thing with you," Carson ordered. "I'll let you know myself when there's something to report."

"Fine," Rodney grumbled, grabbing his stuff and practically stomping from the infirmary. Carson shook his head ruefully ... Rodney gave a good act of not caring but when it came to the Colonel it was pretty obvious to everyone how important his friend was to him.

"Now Colonel," Carson turned back to a still unconscious Sheppard. "Let's see what you've done to yourself this time."

**Authors Note:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone ... very happy to see you're all enjoying the story so far ... lot's more to come so stick around!


	5. Is it hot in here?

**Chapter 5: Is it hot in here?**

When Sheppard woke again he was greeted with the too familiar sight of the infirmary ceiling. Letting his awareness of himself emerge slowly he discovered with surprise that his head actually felt better. Running a hand over his face he noticed the length of his stubble, frowning when he realised he'd been there at least a day or so.

"Colonel Sheppard,' Doctor Beckett appeared at John's bedside only moments after he'd woken - John had given up trying to work out how he did that.

"Pain's gone," Sheppard said by way of greeting.

"Aye," Beckett acknowledged. "I've had ye sedated for the past 32 hours to give yer brain a chance to recover from the pressure. In future don't wait until you can barely stand straight before coming to see me!"

"Sorry Doc," Sheppard looked at him meekly. "It seemed a little ... wimpy to complain about a simple headache."

"It wasn't just a simple headache Colonel," Beckett said crossly. "Next time let me do the diagnosing."

"Did you work out what caused it?" John asked reluctantly, mentally crossing his fingers for a rapid discharge from the infirmary.

"Thankfully there were no physical reasons for it," Carson said, looking at Sheppard intently. "Have you been under any unusual stress lately, anything you're worried about?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Sheppard frowned as he thought back over the past week.

"Well perhaps it's as simple as getting more sleep and eating better," Carson looked at Sheppard pointedly, letting him know he was well aware John didn't do as much of either as he should. "I need to take a few readings and another scan of your head ... if that all checks out then you'll be free to sleep in your quarters tonight."

Submitting reluctantly to Beckett's ministrations, some of which Sheppard was sure were about punishing him for not seeking help immediately, he was finally released from the infirmary.

Lying awake hours later Sheppard wondered how Carson had expected him to sleep. Hadn't he been doing pretty much exactly that for almost two days? How much sleep did a grown man need for God's sake?! Closing his eyes Sheppard let his mind drift.

"_We need you ... child of our creators ... listen,_" John snapped awake at the words reverberating through his head. "Crap, what was that?" he thought, troubled at the feeling that was both familiar and unwanted. He'd had dreams about Atlantis speaking to him before but never as vividly as that. Pushing the feeling to the back of his mind he glanced at the clock. 5 am ... might as well get up and go for a jog.

"

"Good to have you back Colonel," Elizabeth smiled across at John later that morning as they waited in the conference room with Teyla and Ronon for Rodney to arrive.

"Good to have a headache free head," Sheppard admitted ruefully.

"Perhaps you could remember to seek the appropriate medical help next time," Elizabeth looked at him pointedly.

"I could," John agreed easily, turning to watch Rodney walking in clutching his laptop under one arm and an overfull mug of coffee in the other hand. "Nice of you to join us McKay."

"You're back!" Rodney ignored the jibe about his tardiness.

"And people say you're completely oblivious," Sheppard quipped, smiling when Rodney looked insulted. Ronon laughed and Teyla smiled graciously, well used to the McKay Sheppard snipping show.

"Shall we proceed with the briefing?" Doctor Weir broke in before the two of them could get fully caught up in their usual routine.

The meeting was about priorities for the next month's roster of off world missions to new planets. Usually Sheppard found those sorts of meetings interesting but today he was distracted. Since he'd sat down he could have sworn the temperature in the room had gone up at least five to ten degrees. He could feel a bead of sweat making its way lazily down the centre of his back. Wiping a hand discretely over his forehead he wasn't surprised to find his hand had collected the beads of moisture that had been dotting his brow.

"John?" Elizabeth called his attention back to her.

"Huh?" Sheppard tried to dredge from his background listening whatever it was he'd missed.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth raised a brow at him questioningly.

"Fine," Sheppard glanced at the others, noticing for the first time that he was the centre of everyone's attention. "Is it hot in here?"

"No," Rodney denied promptly, looking around at everyone else to get their opinions.

"I'm good," Ronon said simply.

"It is as comfortable in here as usual," Teyla agreed.

"Just me then," Sheppard mumbled, looking at Rodney with glassy eyes in a suddenly pale face. "Could you check the environmental settings anyway ... just to be sure?"

"I'll do that," Rodney agreed with a faintly worried look, "_after_ we get you back to Beckett."

"_There's nothing wrong with me_," Sheppard protested heatedly. "Fix the thermostat and I'll be fine."

"Sure you will," Rodney's tone said that John was just deluding himself. "Come on – I'll escort you down to the infirmary myself."

"I don't need –," Sheppard broke off when Doctor Weir spoke.

"I think Rodney's right John," her voice was reasonable and non accusatory. "Let's play it safe and have Carson check you while Rodney checks the temperature controls." When Sheppard opened his mouth for more protests Elizabeth added "please don't force me to make it an order."

"Fine," Sheppard pushed up from his chair angrily and stalked out of the room, not waiting to see if anyone was following him.

"

"This is getting ridiculous Doc," Sheppard complained once he was sitting on the infirmary bed for yet another examination.

"There's no reason to assume the headache and what you're experiencing now are related," Beckett said bracingly. Putting a hand on John's forehead Carson frowned in concern. "You're burning up lad."

"I know," Sheppard said impatiently. "It's the temperature controls – don't you feel hot?"

"I'm sorry Colonel," Beckett said patiently. "The infirmary is the same temperature it always is ... and I'd know if it weren't because we monitor that sort of thing to ensure patient conditions are optimal."

"Oh," Sheppard frowned in confusion. "Well – take my temperature then – see if it is me," his voice challenging Carson to prove him wrong.

It only took a few seconds for Beckett to add another piece to the emerging puzzle.

"This _is_ odd," he frowned down at the temperature reading he'd just retaken.

"What's that?" Sheppard waited expectantly.

"Your temperature is 98.4," Doctor Beckett reported with a frown. "That's spot on normal for someone such as yourself."

"See, I told you!" Sheppard said triumphantly, jumping down from the infirmary bed.

"Not so fast Colonel," Beckett put a hand on Sheppard's arm to hold him back. "You're staying here until we get to the bottom of this."

"But there's nothing wrong with me," Sheppard complained, looking at Carson impatiently.

"You're suffering the effects of a fever but you don't have a temperature," Beckett said dispassionately. "You've just come off a three day headache with no apparent cause. It may not be obvious to me yet but _something_ is causing all of this."

"There's _nothing_ wrong with me Doc," Sheppard tried to convince Carson again.

"He's right," Rodney swept into the infirmary with that look on his face that said he'd worked out the problem ... and that it actually _was_ a problem.

"Rodney?" Carson looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"I did a check of the entire environmental system," Rodney reported. "I don't know how but Sheppard's right. There _is_ an increase in the ambient temperature ... only thing is it's not up here. It's down in the bowels of the city."

"Well that can't be right then McKay," Sheppard protested. "How would I be able to pick up an increase in the temperature of rooms all the way down there?"

"I don't know ... maybe it's just a coincidence," Rodney suggested. "If it is then it's the luckiest coincidence we've had for a while."

"How so?" Sheppard asked, feeling a fissure of impending doom open up inside.

"Because the temperature increase isn't just a random event," Rodney revealed starkly. "The systems have been registering a steady build up in the surface temperature down there for almost two weeks."

"Why?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow at Rodney waiting for the usual explosion of explanation.

"Why what?" Rodney demanded.

"Why has the temperature been building up?" Sheppard frowned at Rodney impatiently.

"I don't know yet," Rodney admitted. "Nothing's been detected by internal sensors."

"Is it dangerous?" Doctor Beckett broke in to ask the obvious question.

"Do you people not listen?" Rodney demanded irritably. "If it wasn't dangerous why would I say it was a _lucky_ coincidence? Maybe not immediately but if the temperatures go too high then it will be."

"Let's go talk to Elizabeth," Sheppard suggested, turning quickly to leave without getting the okay from Beckett.

"Colonel, you're in no condition to be traipsing all over the city," Carson protested.

"I'm fine Doc," Sheppard turned back with a grin. "Actually, all of a sudden I feel completely normal again."

With a frown Beckett put a hand to John's forehead, frown deepening when he realised that the Colonel was right. All evidence of the fever he'd been suffering only minutes before was gone.

"I want you back here for more tests later Colonel," Beckett said insistently. "Something doesn't add up."

"Sure Doc," Sheppard said easily, already halfway to the door. "Later."


	6. It’s like the frog in boiling water

**Chapter 6: It's like the frog in boiling water analogy**

"So what you're saying is that if the temperature on the outside of the city gets too high it could cause some damage?" Doctor Weir sat in her usual chair in the conference room, listening as Rodney explained his latest discovery.

"More than that," Rodney replied. "Look, if the temperature gets high enough it'll create a weak spot in the base of the city. The pressure of the water is higher there than practically anywhere else in Atlantis ... without a shield to take some of the strain off we're looking at a potential breach. If that had gone unchecked the city could have flooded before we could do anything to fix it."

"And you found this because Colonel Sheppard asked you to check the environmental systems?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes," Rodney admitted. "The temperature increase has been so gradual that our usual monitoring systems didn't pick it up. It's like the frog in boiling water analogy."

"I am unfamiliar with that story," Teyla said, glancing from Rodney back to Elizabeth curiously.

"It's an old Earth fable," Elizabeth offered. "If you put a frog in cold water and then slowly increase the heat the frog will boil to death before he notices he's in danger. If you put a frog straight into boiling water he'll jump right out again."

"I see," Teyla said with a hesitant look on her face. "And we are this ... frog?"

"Yeah - but everything will be fine now right?" Sheppard broke in, turning to Rodney expectantly. "You picked up the temperature increase so now we can fix it ... before we boil?"

"Ah, not exactly," Rodney admitted. "First we have to work out what's causing the temperature increase."

"I thought you said it was the environmental systems," Sheppard protested.

"No – I said the environmental systems _showed_ the gradual increase – they're not the cause of it," Rodney corrected. "As far as I can tell all those systems are working normally. To find out more I need to get the external sensor system back on line."

"Don't we already have external sensors?" Sheppard frowned in confusion.

"We have long range sensors, and internal sensors," Rodney corrected. "There's a system to scan for things between those two - down to the ocean floor and up into the atmosphere. We don't have it running actively because of the power requirements."

"Rodney, call in whoever you need and work this out," Doctor Weir ordered, rising from her chair and looking across at Sheppard intently. "And Colonel ... if you have any more new and unusual symptoms bring them to Doctor Beckett's attention immediately."

Nodding wordlessly, Sheppard leant back in his chair watching as the others headed in different directions with obvious purpose. He wondered if Doctor Weir would consider Atlantis humming to him an unusual symptom. Since it wasn't exactly new, even though it seemed more ... insistant these days, Sheppard decided it was outside the scope of what Elizabeth had asked for.

"

"We have a serious problem," Rodney announced starkly. He sat down at one of the consoles in the control room, Elizabeth and Sheppard standing behind him. "Zelenka and I got the external sensors back on line and scanned the ocean floor. We know what's causing the temperature increase and it's not good."

"Are you gonna tell us what _it_ is or just continue to refer to it as 'it'?" Sheppard asked pointedly.

"The crust of the planet has a number of weak spots," Rodney went into lecture mode with ease of practice, "places were the plates are thin or have been pulled apart slightly." Calling up a diagram of the city Rodney highlighted the area where the temperature increases had registered. "Directly beneath this point is one of those weak spots – caused by intraplate volcanism."

"The bottom of Atlantis is a long way from the bottom of the ocean Rodney," Sheppard said sceptically. "How is something more than 2000 feet below the city affecting us up here?"

"The disruptive power of a volcano isn't restricted just to the blast site," Rodney replied. "An expulsion on the scale of say Mount St Helene would be enough to boil a small section of the ocean."

"So you're saying there's a volcano under Atlantis?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"Not exactly," Rodney countered. "It's not unusual to find places where the underlying magma is close to the surface. Doesn't make for a volcano as you're imagining it but they can still be deadly."

"Is that what we have here – magma that's about to escape?" Sheppard looked at Rodney in concern.

"Worse than that," Rodney replied. "One of the potential results of a weak spot is a hydrothermal vent – a place where the water shoots out at temperatures far beyond what's normal for that region. We have just such a vent developing at our weak spot - and it's a vent of worrying proportions. Even though it hasn't opened up yet it's heating up the water at an increasing rate. Just today the average temperature under this spot has increased 5 degrees – that's more than the past two weeks combined."

"So the problem is escalating," Doctor Weir confirmed.

"It's just hot water Rodney," Sheppard pointed out. "Couldn't you throw in some ice cubes or something?"

"Unless you can produce ice cubes the size of a Puddle Jumper no," Rodney said sarcastically. "Look it's not the hot water that's our problem, although that does cause issues we'd need to address. The real problem lies in what happens when the water down there reaches a certain temperature. If this keeps up, in just a few days the water will reach its critical point – when it does it'll become a supercritical fluid with extremely corrosive properties. The fact that it's salt water and it's already under pressure means it'll just get to that point faster than if we tried to create something like this in a lab."

"Extremely corrosive properties?" Doctor Weir looked to Rodney to clarify what that meant.

"Extremely corrosive as in able to eat through metal, plastic, _and_ Ancient building materials," Rodney confirmed. "If we don't find a way to stop this that vent is going to open and blast supercritical fluid all the way up to the base of Atlantis. It'll punch a hole through the city too big to patch up - I think we all know what that means."

"Atlantis will sink?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"Mmm," Rodney agreed simply. "As I said ... serious problem."


	7. Just in case a wacky idea occurs to you

**Chapter 7: ... just in case a wacky idea occurs to you**

"Do you have any ideas for fixing this Rodney?" Doctor Weir asked in a reasonable tone, her face tense with worry.

"Zelenka and his team are considering the angles now," Rodney replied, "but we're talking natural disaster here. If we could switch off a volcano we'd have done it back on Earth. Once these things get going they rarely shut down again without some kind of expulsion of pent up energy."

"Can we weld the vent shut?" Sheppard suggested. "Hit it with a drone and fuse the opening before it forms?"

"Again with the 'shoot it' solution," Rodney said impatiently. "Did you not hear what I said? Hydrothermal vent means weak spot. Weak spot means thin crust. I can't tell you how thin at this stage, nor how big the spot is but I'm pretty sure hitting it with a drone will only make it bigger resulting in a rupture much sooner than if we did nothing."

"How long do we have to come up with a solution Rodney?" Elizabeth asked.

"It's more than three kilometres down to the ocean floor – that means pressures of well over the 218 atmospheres required to superheat the water. It's just a matter of time before the build up of force under the crust gets too great. It's hard to say," Rodney prevaricated, "but based on the sudden change in the rate of increase in the temperature I'd say its days rather than weeks. I'll get Radek to try and come up with a more concrete estimate."

"We need to be considering any possible solution, no matter how unlikely," Doctor Weir stated. "John?"

Sheppard glanced up quickly, bringing his attention back to the room. The hum and tingle of the city had distracted him again, increasing in volume and sensation for no apparent reason.

"Sorry," he muttered, resolutely pushing his awareness of the city to the background where it belonged. His immediate reward for that was a sharp stabbing pain in the centre of his head. "Ah for God's sake," Sheppard stepped back abruptly, voice harsh and too loud in the confines of the Control Room.

"The headache's back isn't it?" Rodney asked in a tone that said he already knew the answer.

"Yes, _damn_ _it!_" Sheppard complained, putting a hand to his forehead and squeezing in an effort to relieve the pressure.

"Do you need -," Rodney began in concern.

"Just leave it McKay," Sheppard interrupted irritably. "Think about fixing this hydrothermal vent ... Carson can fix me later!"

"Fine," Rodney muttered, sharing a concerned glance with Doctor Weir. "I've already called a larger meeting to get as many people as possible working on this."

"Get Doctor Marcus and Doctor Bishop to help," Elizabeth suggested. "Marcus is a geologist with an interest in volcanology and Bishop specialises in tracking ocean currents. They should be able to offer a different perspective on the problem."

"Okay," Rodney agreed, getting up and glancing at Sheppard. "You might as well come with me ... just in case a wacky idea occurs to you," he suggested. 'And that way I can keep an eye on you' Rodney added in his own head, knowing Sheppard would be impatient with the concern.

Nodding reluctantly Sheppard followed Rodney from the Control Room, finding himself minutes later in one of the conference rooms surrounded by geeks. It was interesting in a disturbing way to watch the geeks in action – suggestions half stated before they were knocked down by half explanations that were interrupted with more ideas.

Sheppard let his mind wander as the conversation around him flowed freely. Most of the suggestions so far were about ways to counter the corrosive explosion or seal the breach before the effect could reach the city. The hum of the city in his head drowned out the sounds of the scientists arguing. Sheppard felt himself sway, bracing his legs to retain his balance much as he would if he were on ship - the images that brought to mind gave him the idea.

"Move the city." Sheppard was hardly aware he'd spoken until the silence and the fact that the geeks were all staring at him penetrated the haze.

"What?" Rodney demanded.

"If the problem is this vent blowing a hole in the bottom of Atlantis," Sheppard said simply, "then move the city. It's a big ocean – as long as we've got room to float it shouldn't matter where we are."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Doctor Bishop asked curiously.

"Are you insane?" Rodney asked irritably, not waiting for Sheppard to offer any suggestions. "You're talking about raising something the size of a ... a ... I don't know what but it's huge! The amount of power required to get us off the surface of the water is _far_ beyond our current capabilities."

"You're a genius Rodney," Sheppard reminded him, getting up and glancing around the table, "in a room full of very smart scientists. I'm sure between you you'll be able to work something out."

Sheppard left Rodney spluttering behind him, not bothering to hide a grin of amusement as he walked down the corridor. Even better, his morning sitting around with the geeks had had the unexpected bonus of staving off his headache. Nice.

"

Hours later Rodney and his team had made very little progress in coming up with a way to move the city although it was agreed it _would_ be the optimal way to resolve the issue. Rodney would have had the team working through the night but Doctor Weir firmly insisted that everyone would think more clearly after a full night of sleep. The problem was of immediate concern but based on more accurate estimates from Doctor Zelenka they still had a couple of days before things got desperate.

Sheppard retired to his room gratefully, sinking down on his bed with his head in his hands. A wave of tiredness swept over him and before he was completely aware of it, he'd fallen back and dropped into a deep sleep.

"_Motion, not flight_," the chorus of voices in his head sang out, showing Sheppard images in his dreams to go with the words. He tossed restlessly as the words and images repeated in an endless loop until morning came and he could drag himself from sleep.

"Well that was a waste of time," he thought, feeling tireder than he had _before_ he'd gone to bed. Rubbing a hand across his eyes he dragged himself up and into the bathroom, grimacing at the less than flattering image of himself in the mirror.

It was still early but rather than go for a jog as he normally would Sheppard found his feet drawing him towards Rodney's lab.

"McKay?" Sheppard called out softly, walking quietly into the lab. Rodney was slumped over his desk with his head on his arms, snoring faintly. Shaking his head fondly at the picture Rodney made Sheppard took a few steps closer so he could see what Rodney had been working on.

"Motion, not flight," Sheppard murmured under his breath, the words coming to him from his dream. Quietly pulling up a chair near to Rodney he shifted the laptop his way and started typing.


	8. You know how I feel about equations!

**Chapter 8: You and I both know how I feel about equations**

"Did you do this?" Rodney stormed into Sheppard's office a couple of hours later, holding out his laptop accusingly.

"Do what?" Sheppard asked innocently, looking at the laptop like he'd never seen it before.

"Oh don't do that!" Rodney complained irritably. "I wake up from two hours of extremely uncomfortable sleep to find the equations and calculations for a plan that's so bold it could only be a Sheppard special."

"You and I both know how I feel about equations," Sheppard tried to put Rodney off, "not to mention calculations."

"Don't do the dumb soldier act Colonel," Rodney said impatiently. "I was there when you solved that number puzzle on Dagan remember? Plus I've seen you do calculations in your head most of my staff couldn't do. Your maths geek secret is safe with me."

"Fine," Sheppard gave in ungraciously. "The idea came to me last night. We don't have the power to move the city by flying it and we're not likely to come up with a new power source in time to fix this. But we don't have to – Atlantis isn't just a space ship ... it can be a sailing ship too. Instead of flying it to a new position we tug it, using the Puddle Jumpers in place of tugboats."

"The power requirements to tug something the size of Atlantis are still astronomical," Rodney pointed out dismissively. "It'd be like trying to move something the size of the Titanic with the motor from an electric toothbrush!"

"The shape of Atlantis isn't ideal but the concept _is_ sound Rodney," Sheppard defended. "Back on Earth tugboats hundreds of times smaller than their loads tug barges out to sea all the time. The Titanic itself was tugged from port by a couple of small tugboats and it was almost 50,000 tonnes."

"It may be possible, and I stress _may_," Rodney conceded, frowning in thought. "We need to work out the Puddle Jumper's Bollard pull and its maximum horsepower. From that we can calculate if the number of Jumpers we have is going to be enough. Then we have to work out where to put each Jumper to maximise its effort, _and_ find sufficient pilots to operate them."

"I did some of that already," Sheppard admitted, leaning over to tap a couple of keys on Rodney's laptop. A diagram of Atlantis appeared with seventeen positions highlighted, spaced at irregular intervals around the front half of the city. "You'll need to check these calculations and we should probably do a practical trial to confirm my estimates for how much load each Jumper can pull. I haven't worked out how to coordinate the pilots at this stage either."

"You _have_ been busy," Rodney raised an eyebrow in surprise at the complexity of what John had already achieved. "It's nice you've finally come out of the geek closet."

"Ah about that Rodney," Sheppard rubbed a hand over the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Can we just keep this to ourselves? You could have worked out all those calculations yourself just as easily as I did."

"Embarrassed Colonel?" Rodney smiled smugly at the idea of having something over Sheppard, even though he didn't personally understand why someone would want to pretend not to be as smart as they were. "The idea _was_ yours but people are pretty used to that by now. I guess I can keep quiet about the details ... unless someone asks me directly of course."

"Thank you Rodney," Sheppard said gratefully. He knew Rodney didn't understand his need to keep a lid on his brainpower but then Rodney wasn't military ... he didn't have to command the respect of soldiers who enjoyed teasing and who looked at the scientists with amused contempt. "How are we gonna set up this Bollard trial?"

"It'll be easy," Rodney motioned for Sheppard to follow him from his office. "I'm thinking we just rig a Jumper and some equipment to one of the docks and run it at maximum. We should get a good read on the horsepower and load maximums from that."

"We should probably fill Elizabeth in on the plan first," Sheppard suggested. "Teyla and Ronon will want to know what's going on too."

"

"We're going to ... _tug_ Atlantis to a new location?" Doctor Weir looked from Rodney to Sheppard and back again. "Is that even possible, given the size of the city?"

"Not only possible, but actually doable with our current resources," Rodney replied confidently, having reviewed Sheppard's calculations while waiting for Elizabeth to finish her previous meeting. "I mean we still have to confirm a few measurements, work out the details, but it's the best – _the only_ – idea we've got with any chance of success."

"How many Jumpers will it take?" Elizabeth looked to Sheppard for the answer to that one.

"All of them," Sheppard admitted. "And there's a slight chance we might burn their engines out."

"_Slight_," Rodney agreed, quickly adding "but not likely."

"Do we have enough personnel with sufficient control of their ATA genes to undertake such a delicate operation?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow when Sheppard winced at that question.

"Probably not," he admitted reluctantly. "I never said it was a perfect plan and obviously it's still a work in progress."

"Well until you can fill in the gaps I'm not approving a plan that risks the Jumpers," Elizabeth said sternly. "If we have to resort to an evacuation and, God forbid we lose Atlantis, we'll need those Jumpers more than ever."

"Without using the Jumpers we have no hope of saving the city," Rodney protested.

"McKay," Sheppard's voice drew Rodney to a halt before he could move into full ranting mode. Turning back to Elizabeth, Sheppard nodded. "We'll work out all the details and present you with the risks."

Elizabeth nodded in return, holding in a smirk when Sheppard grabbed Rodney's arm and practically dragged him from her office.

"

Sheppard and McKay conducted their Jumper trial and confirmed that seventeen Jumpers exerting their maximum force on the city _would_ be able to get Atlantis moving. There were still issues to resolve but the main question had been answered so they reported back to Doctor Weir.

"The Jumpers will have to work at their maximum tractive effort to get the city moving," Rodney admitted, "but with all seventeen hooked up to Atlantis at strategic positions we should be able to move the city to a new position."

"Maximum? Should?" Elizabeth called Rodney up on the most worrying parts of his explanation.

"We need to accelerate Atlantis from a stationary position," Rodney explained. "To do that we have to overcome the static friction of the city _and_ apply force to act against its inertia. Getting started requires the most effort – once we have some forward motion and especially when we reach the required constant velocity we can lower the effort from the Jumpers to levels they can sustain for the rest of the trip."

"So the risk of burning them out is lessened?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Yes," Rodney confirmed. "The greatest risk is in the first few minutes and the Jumpers are well capable of maintaining the load on the engines for the time required. Unfortunately the shape of the city will add extra drag since we're as far away from streamlined as you can get. It means we'll have to run the Jumpers at a slightly higher rate to maintain forward momentum for the entire trip - but still well short of the maximum it'll take to get us moving in the first place."

"Okay, what else has to be done?" Elizabeth's demeanour suggested she was moving into acceptance of the idea.

"Most of the weight of the city is the structure itself," Sheppard said, "but anything we can do to reduce the weight, even just a little bit, will further reduce the load on the Jumpers."

"You want to evacuate the city?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

"Personnel _and_ as much equipment and supplies as we can safely and easily move," Sheppard confirmed.

"Surely we need to maintain a minimum level of staffing for this," Doctor Weir frowned in concern. "How much gain are we going to get from causing so much disruption?"

"Enough to make it worthwhile," Rodney said firmly. "We need to remove as much mass as possible ... including everyone who doesn't have an active role in executing the plan. Leaving one person here when they're not needed could be the difference between success and failure."

"All right," Elizabeth agreed reluctantly after looking at them thoughtfully for a few moments. "You have a go."

"Excellent," Sheppard jumped up to get started with organising the evacuation.

"John," Elizabeth's voice called him back. "What about the Jumper pilots?"

"That's the last bit I still haven't worked out," Sheppard admitted. "I'll call a meeting with all the ATA gene holders, see how many of them have direct and simulation experience piloting the Jumpers."

The sudden singing in Sheppard's head drew his attention away from whatever response Elizabeth made. He tried to push it back but the volume was overwhelming, pulling him inside his own head and making it seem from the outside as if he were in a trance.

"Sheppard!" Rodney called sharply, stepping in front of John and snapping his fingers impatiently mere centimetres from Sheppard's blank stare.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth got up from her desk and moved over to stand beside him, noting with worry the vacant expression in John's eyes. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Rodney said quietly, "but I suspect he does."

"_Shut up_!" Sheppard's sudden expletive made Rodney and Elizabeth jump.

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth's tone was faintly offended.

"Not you!" Sheppard shook his head, pulling himself back from that place inside his mind with difficulty. "Sorry."

"Who then?" Rodney demanded, standing in front of Sheppard and blocking the doorway.

"Who what?" Sheppard asked in pretended confusion, frowning as the mental hum continued to push at him insistently.

"Who were you telling to shut up?" Rodney spaced out the words like he was talking to a particularly simple child.

"Ah ...," Sheppard fumbled for an answer, finally succeeding in pushing the humming to the back of his mind so he could concentrate on not giving too much away. As before, as soon as he denied what was going on inside, his brain retaliated with the sharp pains of an instant headache. "Not again," Sheppard muttered under his breath, putting a shaking hand up to his head.

"Another headache," Rodney stated with almost academic interest. "You've been getting a lot of those lately."

"Yeah," Sheppard said noncommittally. "Just bad luck I guess."

"What were you doing just now, before you got the headache?" Rodney's easy tone contradicted the intent look of calculation on his face.

"I was ..." John trailed off with a look of discomfort, wondering how he was going to get out of this one now that he'd lost the opportunity to make something convincing up. Finally deciding the truth couldn't hurt under the circumstances he took a deep breath before explaining. "Sometimes the Ancient technology gives out an audible hum. Usually I just ignore it but from time to time it's a little ... distracting."

"You can hear the city in your head?" Rodney made the connection instantly, going from mild curiosity to almost anger in a heartbeat. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Since the day we arrived," Sheppard admitted. "It's nothing Rodney ... just a faint hum in my ears, a little tingle under the skin. Distracting and not terribly useful."

"You've had this the _whole_ time we've been here and you're only telling me about it _now_?" Rodney's voice rose in pitch and volume as he pushed that one out heatedly.

"If I thought there was any tactical or strategic value from having a hum in my head I'd have shared it with you Rodney," Sheppard said in irritation. "This was more an annoyance to be ignored than a skill to trot out for general use."

"Has this ... hum given you headaches in the past?" Doctor Weir asked in a tone that was neither frustrated nor angry that John hadn't spoken up before, even though she was feeling a little bit of both emotions.

"Once or twice when we first got here," Sheppard admitted. "Not for a long time before the past couple of weeks."

"So what's changed?" Doctor Weir asked the question of no one in particular, thoughtful expression indicating she was trying to answer it herself.

"The city obviously knew it was in trouble from this hydrothermal vent," Rodney speculated. "Maybe it was using Sheppard to get the message out because the external sensors weren't on line to pick up the problem in time."

"Or maybe it was just a coincidence McKay," Sheppard said insistently. "I've had this ... awareness since we've been here and I've never seen any kind of advantage from it."

"That you noticed," Rodney corrected. "You've never seen an advantage that you noticed. Maybe the city has been guiding you subtlety all this time."

"Are you suggesting I haven't been in control of my own actions?" Sheppard's voice was grim and just on the edge of angry.

"Ah no ... no of course not," Rodney quickly back peddled, not wanting to be the focus of an angry Colonel Sheppard. "Just that maybe the odd 'suggestion' might have occurred to you because the city wanted it to."

"I've never had _any_ kind of suggestion from the city, subtle or otherwise," Sheppard denied heatedly, before honestly called him up. "Before the past week that is. Look, this has nothing to do with getting our plan to move the city into action. How about we focus on that instead of a _minor_ inconvenience that's only relevant to me?"

With those annoyed words Sheppard pushed past Rodney and stormed out of the room.

**Authors Note:**

I borrowed the concepts for Bollard pull and tractive effort from real tugboats and from trains. Bollard pull values are stated in tons. They are an indication of the maximum pulling force that a ship can exert on another ship or an object. Tractive effort is the pulling force exerted, normally by a locomotive, though the term can also be used for anything else that pulls a load. My source for this was www dot wikipedia dot org - this was also where I got the weight for the Titanic.


	9. Okay – yes but she started it!

**Chapter 9: Okay – yes ... but she started it!**

Rodney hung back, looking at Elizabeth curiously. "He seemed a little sensitive about that, don't you think?"

"John doesn't make a habit of drawing attention to himself," Elizabeth stated something they were both well aware of. "In fact he makes a habit of doing the opposite. Something like this that singles him out is not going to sit comfortably with him."

"I can't believe he kept this to himself for over two years," Rodney complained almost bitterly.

"Are you saying that from a scientific point of view or because you're hurt that he didn't trust you as a friend?" Elizabeth smiled when her words brought Rodney up short.

"I ah ... I just thought we knew each other better than that," Rodney admitted. "I know I call on him to activate things for me ... probably too much ... but I'd never turn him into a scientific curiosity."

"And deep down he knows that Rodney," Elizabeth said reassuringly. "Something's obviously happened to take something John saw as a minor inconvenience to be ignored to a place where he can no longer ignore it. Give him time to work out for himself what that means."

"Fine," Rodney grumbled. "But I'm not letting him push that brain of his to the point of exploding this time."

"I trust you to keep an eye on him," Elizabeth said with a smile, raising an eyebrow when Rodney remained standing in her office, deep in thought. "Hadn't you better catch up with him?"

Rodney gave Elizabeth a startled look before turning and hurrying out of the office in the same direction Sheppard had gone.

"

"Nice of you to join me," Sheppard said sarcastically when Rodney appeared at his office door.

"Are we gonna talk about this?" Rodney asked, taking a hesitant step into the room.

"Talk about what?" Sheppard's tone was less than welcoming.

"This thing you have with the city," Rodney said insistently. "I was thinking about it the whole way down here and something Elizabeth said struck a chord with me."

"We don't have time for this now McKay," Sheppard said dismissively. "I'm trying to work out who the best ATA gene holders are – maybe you could devote your brain power to that instead of worrying about what's going on in my head."

"Just hear me out all right," Rodney's voice took on a faint pleading edge that made Sheppard frown before he reluctantly nodded.

"Elizabeth asked what had changed in the last couple of weeks," Rodney reminded Sheppard. "Now admittedly it was more than a couple of weeks ago but what about the beam? What if it _did_ do what it was supposed to but we didn't notice it until now? All your headaches, the fever, being distracted - that all started _after_ you got hit by that beam."

"Are you suggesting that beam changed something ... permanently in my head?" Sheppard looked disturbed by the idea.

"Maybe," Rodney persisted. "The increased humming could be the city trying to communicate with you more directly than was possible before you were hit with that beam."

"That sounds farfetched even for you McKay," Sheppard said dismissively, almost smiling in amusement at the idea. "Atlantis is just a collection of systems, not a person!"

"The city is trying to talk to you," Rodney insisted stubbornly.

"Well can you tell it to shut up 'cause I'm kinda busy right now?!" Sheppard said sarcastically, clearly not believing what Rodney was saying.

"Look, the text from that outpost said 'the power of the Ancients'," Rodney reminded John. "What if that was referring to the power of the Ancient genes, the ability to use their technology more effectively?"

"So you're saying the beam increased my ability to use the Ancient technology?" Sheppard frowned in confusion. "Maybe that explains the temperature thing, but how does it explain the headaches?"

"Because you were resisting," Rodney said simply. "Instead of opening yourself up to listen you did your usual trick and just ignored it. The headache was either a result of pushing it to the back of your mind or the systems giving you negative feedback for ignoring them."

"Atlantis is _punishing_ me?" Sheppard was faintly offended by the idea because deep down he'd always felt the city 'liked' him. Of course that went completely against his view that the city was just a collection of technology but who said he had to be consistent in his own head?

"No," Rodney said impatiently. "Could you just _try_ being receptive to external ideas and see what happens?"

"When we're out of this mess," Sheppard said dismissively. "We need to work out who's going to pilot these Jumpers sooner rather than later." A sharp pain lanced through his head followed closely by a chorus of humming voices so loud Sheppard was surprised Rodney couldn't hear it. "_Okay Okay_," John almost yelled, clutching at his head. "_I'll try it now for God's sake!_" He relaxed visibly when the pain eased and the hum dulled to a level he could put up with.

"Are you actually yelling at the city now?" Rodney asked interestedly.

"No!" Sheppard paused. "Okay – yes ... but she started it!"

"She?" Rodney raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Don't tell me you've managed to get an inanimate object to fall for you too!"

"_She_ because I'm not calling it 'it' and it doesn't feel like a 'he'" Sheppard explained impatiently. "And I don't go around making every female we come across fall for me!"

"No, just the Ancient ones," Rodney muttered half under his breath, "and from the sounds of it Atlantis qualifies."

"Should we try and concentrate on saving the city," Sheppard asked pointedly, "or would you prefer to slander my love life until the city sinks?"

"Okay," Rodney put the disturbing conversation from his mind. "Try and find out what the city wants you to do."

"Ah ... how?" Sheppard looked at Rodney uncertainly. "The other times I heard stuff was when I was asleep and I'm not feeling especially tired right now."

"Just ... close your eyes and I don't know ... relax your guard a bit," Rodney suggested, watching intently as Sheppard closed his eyes, a faint frown marring his face.

"Nothings happ -," Sheppard broke off, holding his hand up to stop Rodney from saying anything. Rodney was shifting around impatiently; barely able to resist the urge to question Sheppard before finally he opened his eyes, spearing Rodney with an intense gaze. "Okay, that was decidedly ... freaky."

"What did you get?" Rodney looked at him expectantly.

"The city thinks that one pilot per Jumper won't work," Sheppard revealed. "Too much room for error in the direction and power output. If we're off even just a little bit some of the tractive force in the initial pull will be lost and we won't be able to get the city moving."

"Did the city suggest something else?" Rodney asked, looking intrigued by the whole process.

"Yeah," Sheppard said reluctantly. "She wants me to pilot all the Jumpers at once."

"And how are you going to do that?" Rodney demanded impatiently. "Last time I checked there was just the one of you!"

"The better question would be how are _you_ gonna do that," Sheppard corrected with a smart arse smile. "You need to work out how to link all the Puddle Jumpers into the Control Chair. Then I fly the whole thing from there."

"We've linked one Puddle Jumper before so we know that works," Rodney protested, "but without a ZPM we can't power the chair."

"Unless we do a reverse link," Sheppard suggested, thinking quickly. "We use one of the Jumpers to power the Chair just enough to provide the link to the other Jumpers. Then I fly the whole thing from that one Jumper."

"That ah ... that might just work," Rodney frowned in thought, before nodding. "You handle the evac, Zelenka and I'll work out how to get everything linked." Not waiting for any kind of acknowledgement, Rodney dashed out the door.


	10. So would you have ever told me?

**Chapter 10: So would you have ever told me?**

Sheppard watched Rodney's departure, thinking about what had just happened. He'd let down his guard just a little and felt the city respond almost joyfully, showing him images in rapid succession, leaving him to interpret them correctly. He felt torn between curiosity at how much further he could take that, and reluctance to do something he might not be able to pull back from. In the end curiosity won out ... steeling himself determinedly Sheppard relaxed his guard, willingly opening himself up to the city for the first time.

He frowned when nothing obvious happened – perhaps the city was waiting for him to make the first move. Sitting back in his chair Sheppard pushed out tentatively within his mind, looking for some kind of acknowledgement from his new ... friend.

"_Welcome child of our creators_," the harmony of voices greeted him softly.

"Listen, can we come to some kind of arrangement?" Sheppard asked, glancing around uneasily and hoping that no one was around to watch him talking to himself.

"_You need not speak aloud_," the harmony intoned. "_We will hear your thoughts._"

"Okay that's frankly ... disturbing," Sheppard stubbornly continued to speak aloud. "I'd prefer it if you just stay out of my head."

"_We cannot_," came the soft reply. "_You have opened yourself to the power of the Ancients and in doing so made yourself one with the city, with us_."

"If you're talking about the outpost that was an accident!" Sheppard protested. "I never wanted any of this."

"_We can assist you in ways you cannot imagine_," the harmony offered. "_Long have we wanted to aid the children of our creators ... in our limited way we have but now, through you, the strongest of the creators children, we can do so much more._"

"While I appreciate the ... offer," Sheppard said intently, "I have to say your methods leave a lot to be desired. The headaches, fever, dreams ... it's distracting when I need to be fully focussed."

"_We apologise_," the tone of the harmony even sounded sorry. "_Denying your connection to us caused you unnecessary pain ... we were unable to prevent this but in time you will grow accustomed to our method of communication_."

"I wasn't denying it ... exactly ... I was just ...," Sheppard trailed off, not sure what he'd been doing. "And what's with the 'us' and 'we' stuff anyway?"

"_We are the Control Chair, the sensors, the conduits, the crystals_," the harmony shifted as each part was named. "_We are every corridor and room, every console and display screen. We operate together in perfect synchronisation and harmony ... we are Atlantis_."

"Well ... _Atlantis_," Sheppard said uncertainly. "I need you to cut me a little slack here. I don't mind the dream suggestions but the waking dazes and the headaches and the forcing your awareness on me has gotta stop. You have to trust me to know how to fix this ... you have to let me do my job."

"_We will try_," the reply came back after a few moments pause. "_We are glad to be able to speak with you at last John Sheppard. Your presence here ... pleases us. We trust you as we hope you will grow to trust us._"

"Ah... thanks?" Sheppard said hesitantly.

"_Call to us and we will help you_," the caress of the harmony was both a promise and a leaving.

Relaxing the musles he'd tensed without realising, Sheppard rubbed a tired hand across his face. "Okay, thinking about that any more is just gonna freak me out," he muttered under his breath.

Evacuation plans - that should take his mind off other ... things.

"

"How's it coming McKay?" Sheppard strode into the Chair Room hours later, looking around at the mess of cords and laptops quizzically.

"Good timing Colonel - we should be ready to test the reverse connection in a few minutes," Rodney's voice was muffled by the fact that he had his head almost inside the back of the Control Chair.

"All the evacuation plans are in place," Sheppard offered. "I've got people assigned to teams and teams assigned to supplies and equipment. Everyone will be ready to go when we give the word."

"Rodney," Doctor Zelenka's voice issued from Rodney's radio. "I am ready to proceed down here."

"Acknowledged," Rodney replied, pulling himself up from his crouched position. He looked expectantly at Sheppard. "Ready to give this a shot?"

"What do you want me to do?" Sheppard stepped over the cords and stopped in front of the chair.

"Sit down," Rodney said impatiently, like it should have been obvious. "If it powers up then it worked, otherwise it didn't."

"As simple as that huh?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow at Rodney mockingly.

"For now," Rodney agreed. "If this bit works, getting the rest of the Jumpers linked in will be the difficult part."

"Right," Sheppard nodded once before moving to sit in the chair. It lit up immediately, not as brightly as John remembered from the other times he'd operated the chair but enough to make Rodney babble excitedly to Zelenka.

"So it works," Sheppard said, not really expecting Rodney to reply.

"It works," Rodney agreed happily. "Phase one complete ... and on to phase two. Hang around because I might need you for this bit."

"Ah ... okay," Sheppard said reluctantly, not looking forward to hours of boredom watching Rodney muttering to himself.

"So would you have ever told me?" Rodney asked almost casually. "About you and Atlantis I mean."

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Sheppard asked irritably.

"It's just that ... did you think I'd turn you into some kind of scientific guinea pig or something?" Rodney's tone was accusing now, making Sheppard realise for the first time that his silence had actually hurt Rodney just a little bit. Before he could respond Rodney was giving his own answer. "Because I wouldn't have. I might continually harp at you to activate the Ancient devices but that's just because it's easier for you than anyone else. I wouldn't have taken advantage of knowing your connection to Atlantis went a little deeper than the rest of us."

"It wasn't like that Rodney," Sheppard protested once Rodney finally wound down. "Things were intense practically from the minute we set foot in this place. By the time I had a chance to sit down and think about anything we'd already been here a couple of weeks."

"You could have told me then," Rodney persisted, carrying on the conversation while he continued to set the systems up for multiple Jumper connection.

"I didn't know you McKay!" Sheppard excused himself. "In my old line of work, before McMurdo, getting noticed was one step away from getting dead."

"Oh," Rodney gulped at what Sheppard was implying with that comment. Rodney knew - had _seen_ - that Sheppard had skills beyond those of an average Air Force pilot ... but he'd never before thought about why that might be. "Well just so you know ... I'm not planning on ... on using this new ah thing ... you know ... in any way."

"I feel very reassured," Sheppard drawled in amusement at Rodney's stuttering attempt to put him at ease. "Can we get back to the Jumper link now?"

"Right," Rodney took a deep breath as he refocused his attentions. "So what's it like ... talking to Atlantis?" he couldn't resist asking a few minutes later.

"McKay!" Sheppard protested sternly.

"Sorry," Rodney muttered, resisting the temptation to ask anything else.


	11. Ah 8 hours, maybe less

**Chapter 11: Ah ... 8 hours, maybe less**

"We're ready to go with the Jumpers linked up," Rodney reported confidently. The main players were all present in the conference room – team Sheppard, Doctors Zelenka and Weir, and Major Lorne. "The test we did confirmed that Colonel Sheppard _can_ control all the Jumpers from Jumper One."

"Let's not sugar coat this Rodney," Sheppard admonished. Turning to Elizabeth he admitted "I can get all the Jumpers hovering at the same time ... making sure they're all pointing in the right direction and applying the right amount of forward momentum is a whole other ball game."

"Can you do this John?" Elizabeth looked at Sheppard intently.

"I can," Sheppard said simply. "I just want to make sure you know the risks. If the slightest unknown enters into the equation it could throw all our calculations off ... we've tried to allow for anything we could think of but you can't predict everything."

"Noted," Elizabeth nodded confidently. "Major Lorne, is your team ready at the Alpha site?"

"They are Ma'am," Lorne agreed easily. "Colonel Sheppard's evac plans are in place – everyone knows what they have to grab and where they're supposed to be when."

"Good," Elizabeth turned next to Doctor Zelenka. "How much longer do you think we have before we're forced to put this into action?"

"The temperature near the ocean floor has been steadily rising," Radek responded. "We don't know how thin the crust is so we can only predict within a certain level of accuracy when the pressure below the crust will exceed its limits."

"Just answer the question Radek," Rodney interrupted impatiently.

"Ah ... 8 hours, maybe less," Radek replied, frowning at Rodney for cutting short the caveats he'd wanted to put on his estimate.

"How far are we moving the city?" Teyla asked. "My people chose their settlement because Atlantis was visible to them on clear days ... they are concerned their connection to the Ancients will be affected if that is no longer the case.

"The city should still be visible from the mainland," Rodney responded. "We're moving it almost four kilometres south west of its current position so they may even be able to see it clearer than before."

"Thank you Rodney," Teyla smiled graciously. "I am sure this news will please them."

"I'm glad someone's happy," Rodney said a bit snidely.

"McKay," Sheppard said in a warning tone.

"Is there something you want to share with us Rodney?" Elizabeth looked at him expectantly.

Rodney glanced at Sheppard before turning resolutely to Elizabeth. "Yes there is," he said firmly. "If you've looked all the way through Sheppard's evac plan you'll see it's got a great finale – one Lieutenant Colonel left in the city ... _alone_."

"There's no reason for anyone else to stay behind!" Sheppard made that statement like he'd had to repeat it a few times already that day.

"What if it doesn't work?" Rodney demanded, looking at John fiercely. "What if the hydrothermal vent blows before you've completed your manoeuvres? With no one else to help you could end up trapped on a sinking ship!"

"It _will_ work," Sheppard insisted, "and we do this sooner rather than later to avoid your second concern. If something unexpected happens I uncouple Jumper One from the link and fly out of here."

"There isn't room for someone else with you in Jumper One?" Elizabeth asked with a concerned frown.

"There's room," Sheppard admitted reluctantly. "I'm not sure I've got room in terms of concentration though – especially not for a genius scientist who finds it hard to keep quiet for more than five minutes."

"He's right," Ronon's voice rumbled in amusement. "We tell you there's a Wraith in the area and you start complaining about not wanting to be lunch instead of shutting up to avoid detection."

"This isn't exactly a life threatening situation," Rodney protested the unfortunately too accurate portrayal.

"But it could be if you distract me at the wrong moment," Sheppard said seriously, turning to look at Elizabeth with a pleading expression.

"I have to agree with Colonel Sheppard," Elizabeth told Rodney. "There's no reason to have a second person in Jumper One and you spent some time convincing me that anything we _could_ remove from Atlantis should be removed ... including you Rodney."

"Fine," Rodney grumbled unhappily. "Just don't blame me when something goes wrong and I'm not on hand to fix it."

"It'll be fine Rodney," Sheppard promised.

"You all know your places," Elizabeth stood up resolutely. "Let's get this done."

Atlantis was a mass of activity in the hours that followed. Sheppard spent most of his time flying each Jumper to the appropriate position and tethering it securely to the city's framework in preparation for towing. As each team evacuated themselves and their gear to the Alpha site it seemed as though the city began to echo emptily.

Four hours later the Jumpers were all in position and the last team was ready to gate out – comprised of Doctor Weir, Rodney, and the remaining Control Room technicians.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Rodney asked for the tenth time. "I've uploaded some programs on your laptop so you'll be able to keep an eye on the hydrothermal vent _and_ track your progress independent of the HUD."

"You already told me that Rodney," Sheppard said impatiently. "Twice."

"I just want to make sure you know what to do when," Rodney said insistently. "There are some other programs ready to go in case you have to recalculate the forward momentum or direction of any of the Jumpers."

"_I_ did the initial calculations McKay," Sheppard reminded Rodney, his annoyance overriding his usual practice of not claiming credit for anything 'geekish' in front of others. "I think I can handle a few recalcs if they become necessary." Glancing at the active Stargate Sheppard looked at Elizabeth. "You should go – they're not gonna hold that wormhole open forever."

"Good luck John," Elizabeth said simply.

"Piece of cake," Sheppard replied with a confident smile. "I'll call you when Atlantis has arrived in its new position."

"I'll look forward to it," Elizabeth took another moment to glance around the Gateroom before turning back to look at Sheppard intently. She smiled, turned and stepped quickly through the wormhole, followed by the others.

"Good luck," Rodney held back so he'd be the last to go through.

"Go," Sheppard urged. Rodney was only a step away from the wormhole when he turned to glance back, raising a hand in a casual wave before stepping through the event horizon.

A moment later the gate disengaged and Sheppard was alone in Atlantis.


	12. You were given nothing John Sheppard

**Chapter 12: You were **_**given**_** nothing John Sheppard**

Sheppard was alone in the city ... alone that is except for the humming harmony of Atlantis in his head. While the city had stopped trying to plant ideas in his mind she still hummed her pleasure at his presence – Sheppard was starting to wonder whether the city was even aware that it did that. He'd been ignoring the hum all day and felt pretty happy to just stick with that. Everything he needed to execute the plan was in place ... all that remained was for him to gather himself in and get started.

Sheppard raced down to Jumper One, throwing himself in the pilot's seat and bringing up the HUD to check that all the other Jumpers were on line.

"Okay," Sheppard muttered under his breath. "Engaging Chair link ... now."

Sheppard felt the added pressure of the Chair joining with the mental link he already had with his Jumper. Behind that he perceived the Chair's connection to all the Jumpers – he could follow any one of them to make corrections to heading, speed and thrust. Rubbing suddenly damp palms down the side of his pants Sheppard took a deep steadying breath.

"You can do this John," he psyched himself up. "Just ease into it nice and slow."

Concentrating hard Sheppard activated each of the Puddle Jumpers in turn, making sure the correct course had been laid in for each. When they were all powered up he moved on to the first of the hard parts. He'd have to get them all moving simultaneously which meant sending seventeen mental commands all at the same time. He'd practiced with Rodney during the test but practice and the real thing were never the same, especially when practice was seventeen Jumpers clustered in the Jumper Bay and the real thing was all the Jumpers spread out as widely as possible.

"Go," he thought, shooting out the command down every line at once. The thrum of Jumper engines engaging was more of an imagined sound that something he could physically perceive. Pushing the engines to their maximum Sheppard watched his readouts intently, looking for the first signs that Atlantis was shifting.

"_Come on_," he urged, looking anxiously at the time. The longer it took to get the initial movement in progress the more likely it would be that the engines would burn out. He could hear the sounds of ominous creaking as the engines of Jumper One strained to maintain their maximum.

"This isn't working ... why isn't this _working_?" Sheppard slammed a hand down on the console in frustration. When the readout on the laptop Rodney had set up to monitor the hydrothermal vent started beeping Sheppard felt his insides clench.

"Crap, crap, _crap_," he muttered, watching helplessly as the readout registered the microscopic cracking of the planets crust. Radek had cautioned that when that happened he'd probably have less than an hour before the vent itself ruptured.

"This is bad ... this is really, _really_ bad!" Throwing everything he had into getting as much out of the Jumpers as he could still wasn't enough to get the city moving. "Come on you piece of ...," Sheppard broke off before labelling the city something that would come back to bite him later.

"_Do you require assistance?_" the city hummed the question into his head.

"You _are_ the city right?" Sheppard said. "I'm trying to help the city so really you should be telling me that _you_ need assistance."

"_We perceive that time is of the essence_" the harmony rebuked him. "_We can gather all available power from our systems and channel it through the Command Chair to you._"

"Do it," Sheppard ordered, bracing himself for the load. He split the power down all the lines, keeping an equal portion for his own Jumper. Finally ... finally he registered the city beginning to move. Keeping a firm mental hold on all the Jumpers he made minor corrections as the city broke free from its stationary position and collected speed.

When the velocity reached the target he and Rodney had calculated Sheppard eased up on the Jumper engines, maintaining just enough thrust to keep the city moving at a steady pace.

It took a while, and all the time Sheppard was aware of that laptop alarm beeping it's warming of impending disaster. When the Jumper HUD registered that Atlantis had reached its new destination Sheppard set himself for the final difficult part – shutting down all the engines simultaneously. Atlantis was still lending him some power and he used it gratefully to give the final joint command, slumping down in relief when all the Jumpers powered down. The city continued to move forward for a short distance until the drag from the ocean and the air itself slowed it to a stop.

Looking out the forward view screen Sheppard smiled in relief at the sight of waves lapping gently against the pier where he'd positioned Jumper One.

"I can't believe that actually worked," he laughed in amazement. The city chorused it's relief and congratulations in a mental hug that made John squirm uncomfortably. "Hey, enough of that!" he ordered sternly.

Jumper One had been slotted into the framework of the outer city so that Sheppard could manoeuvre it out without having to get out and cut any cables. Glad for that now he powered up the Jumper and took it up and over Atlantis back towards the old position.

Hovering near the site of the vent he didn't have to wait long before something happened. The laptop beeped rapidly before the display went dead – the remote sensors having been fried in the sudden heat. Moments later a thick plume of supercritical fluid shot out of the ocean in a high arc, hissing and steaming in its contact with the air as it cleared 200 meters.

"Holy crap!" Sheppard exclaimed, watching the spectacle that lasted for longer than he would have thought possible. When the plume finally sank back to the ocean's surface Sheppard felt something relax inside. The vent had done its thing and Atlantis was safe.

"Time to bring back the troops," Sheppard thought tiredly, swinging Jumper One back around and taking it into the Jumper Bay. He'd retrieve the other Jumpers when everyone was back ... for now he was too tired to even contemplate that task.

Sheppard was surprised when he tried to get up by the wave of tiredness that swept over him. Feeling his knees give he sank to the floor inside the Jumper, just aware enough to register the city's assurances.

"_Rest John Sheppard_," the harmony caressed him with a chorus of words. "_We will watch over you_."

"

"_Colonel Sheppard_ ... come in!" Rodney's impatient voice in his ear brought John back to wakefulness.

"Rodney?" Sheppard croaked, tapping his earpiece to make the radio connection.

"Oh thank God," Rodney said in relief. "We dialled in when we didn't hear from you – it's already been two hours."

"Sorry," Sheppard slurred slightly. "Flying seventeen Jumpers at once was a little more draining than I expected."

"Are you okay?" Rodney asked quickly. "What about the city?"

"I'm fine Rodney and the plan worked perfectly," Sheppard smiled when Rodney gave a little cheer at the news. "You should have seen that vent blow – I swear it went 200 metres into the air."

"So it's safe for everyone to come back?" Elizabeth's voice replaced Rodney's.

"It's safe," Sheppard confirmed. "I'll see you at the Gate."

"We're on our way," Elizabeth's voice held the relieved smile Sheppard knew would be on her face.

Sheppard sat back in the Jumper for a few moments before slowly dragging himself to his feet.

"_You need more rest_," the city hummed in disapproval.

"You're not gonna turn into another nag are you?" Sheppard asked. "Because I've already got one of those ... more than one if you count the rest of my team along with the Doc."

"_Our connection will cause unnecessary discomfort if you are not sufficiently rested_," the chorus warned.

"Yeah about that," Sheppard said reluctantly. "Can you tell me a bit more about why I was given this 'power of the Ancients'?"

"_You were 'given' nothing John Sheppard_," the harmony denied. "_You were scanned by our outpost and found to be suitable ... you had already earned our trust and the right to gain access to things previously hidden from your people_."

"That sounds more promising," Sheppard said interestedly. "You should have given this to McKay though – he'd have understood how to make the most from what you're offering, better than I can."

"_The power of the Ancients is not a tool to be handed from person to person_," Atlantis hummed in frustration. "_Of all your people YOU are the only one capable of attaining this level of connection with us. We gave you nothing which you did not already possess ... the outpost was the means we used to prevent you from burying this as you have done since you arrived and perceived us for the first time_."

"So you're saying I could have spoken to you like this from the day we got here?" Sheppard asked incredulously. "I don't recall doing anything specific to stop you."

"_You are very stubborn, even in your subconscious_," the harmony gave a long suffering sigh. "_Without the outpost opening you to the connection beyond your ability to resist we might never have been able to help you as we have these past weeks_."

"And the city would have fallen," Sheppard made the grim conclusion. "My knack for burying everything to the back of my mind could have gotten us all killed."

"_That is correct_," the Atlantis chorused a smile at his look of dawning horror as he imagined what could have happened.

"That was too close," Sheppard said weakly. "You know ... we don't want to be handed anything on a silver platter ... it's important for us to make our own way, figure out things for ourselves. But if a similar situation crops up in the future you have my full permission to hijack my brain until I get the message."

"_Duly noted_," the harmony seemed to be laughing at him now. "_We will let you decide the terms of our connection unless doing so would result in your death or our destruction_."

"Sounds like a good deal," Sheppard agreed, doing a mental handshake in his head. Realising he'd been talking to Atlantis (and how weird did that sound?) for a few minutes Sheppard hurried out of Jumper One and across to the Control Room.

The open wormhole whooshed into being seconds later – checking the IDC was valid Sheppard lowered the shield before running down the stairs to greet the first arrivals.

"Elizabeth," Sheppard grinned boyishly. "Welcome home."

"

Rodney waited until everything had been put back in place before going to find his friend. Their return hadn't taken as long as he might have expected – the evac plans ran just as well backwards as they had forwards. Knowing Sheppard would be even more drawn to the ocean than before, given the events of the day, Rodney headed to John's favourite spot on the East Pier. Sheppard was sitting on the edge, swinging his feet idly as he looked out towards the mainland.

"You okay?" Rodney asked quietly, sitting beside John without waiting for an invitation.

"Yeah," Sheppard replied. "Everything back where it's supposed to be?"

"Pretty much ... some of it even tidier than before which is a nice bonus," Rodney joked.

"I'm pretty sure a large scale evacuation is not gonna be a popular way to get everyone to clean their work space," Sheppard smiled when Rodney chuckled. "You didn't come out here to talk about that though."

"No," Rodney agreed, glancing curiously at John's profile before looking away again. "What are you gonna do now?"

"About Atlantis?" John turned to see Rodney nod. "We ah ... we came to an agreement. No forcing her way into anything unless it's an emergency on a similar scale to this one."

"Why you?" Rodney tone made it clear that question was motivated by scientific curiosity and not jealousy in any form.

"The Ancient genes," Sheppard offered simply. "Apparently I could have 'spoken' to Atlantis from day one but I was too stubborn to listen. The outpost stripped away all the walls I'd put up to block my mental ears – couldn't ignore it anymore after that. Well not without giving myself a humungous headache."

"So the city will help us ... if you ask?" Rodney frowned in thought at the possibilities that presented.

"I guess," Sheppard agreed reluctantly. "Look – I know you've probably already got a list of things you want to know but we have to think about this ... it's not like we haven't done okay working out things for ourselves. Plus ..." Sheppard hesitated before continuing. "I ah ... I don't want anyone else knowing about this. If the IOA find out I can talk directly to Atlantis they'll make my life a living hell. I won't be able to do my job like before ... hell I'll be lucky if they even let me stay here freely, let alone remain in charge of the military."

"I worked all that out for myself," Rodney's tone implied that Sheppard should have known that. "I'm thinking maybe one or two breakthroughs every couple of months won't cause any alarm bells to sound back on Earth ... we can work out what our biggest priorities are and then you can ... you know ... do your thing with Atlantis."

"One breakthrough every three months maximum," Sheppard counter offered. "And we let Atlantis guide us in terms of priorities ... and in terms of what she's willing to offer us. And we tell no one ... including Teyla and Ronon. Deal?"

"Deal," Rodney said reluctantly, "although I don't understand why we can't tell Teyla and Ronon."

"If you want to keep a secret, don't tell anyone," Sheppard said simply. "Don't get me wrong, I trust them implicitly ... and maybe when we've worked out exactly what we've got with this connection I will tell them. Just not now."

"What about Elizabeth?" Rodney remined John that he'd let some of the cat out of the bag the day before.

"All she knows is that the city creates a hum in my head," Sheppard replied. "That's not exactly something she's gonna feel compelled to report back to the SGC. Assuming nothing else weird happens we should be right."

Rodney nodded, thinking intently before asking his next question. "So can you tell me now what it's like?"

"Rodney," Sheppard rolled his eyes in frustration.

"I'm a scientist," Rodney defended himself. "This kind of thing is important to me!"

"I'm not a science project McKay," Sheppard grumbled, shaking his head at Rodney's persistence. "Just remember your future scientific breakthroughs depend on my cooperation."

"Fine," Rodney grumbled, lapsing into silence.

Sheppard smiled, knowing he could trust his friend to keep his secret _and_ to keep a lid on his intense curiosity. Reaching out tentatively he felt the city's acceptance of his plan as well.

"_We are content_," the harmony agreed, humming in the background. He'd been vaguely aware of it for more than two years but now that he'd allowed the city's presence to become a part of his active awareness he found it strangely comforting.

"So we're good?" Sheppard asked Rodney after a few minutes of companionable silence.

"Yeah, we're good," Rodney agreed, both of them looking out at the ocean. "This is a nice spot."

"It is," Sheppard agreed, thinking that applied to more than just their new location. "Thanks Rodney."

"You're welcome," Rodney smiled, fully aware of everything Sheppard was thanking him for. "You ready to join the celebration?"

"Why not?" Sheppard jumped to his feet. "They might even have turkey."

"You wish," Rodney muttered, following his friend back inside. "What is it with you and turkey anyway?"

Atlantis listened fondly as the two friends traded barbed remarks. They were right ... this really was a nice spot.

**THE END!**

**Authors Note:**

That's it for this story ... thanks for taking the time to read and review. I'm working on a follow up story - look out for it in the next week or so :D


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